Microsoft Interop Assembly for Word fails with newest version of Word from Microsoft 365 version 2211

Question

I have a program that uses the Word Interop Assembly to open documents. This code has worked for years, but when a user has updated to the newest version of Word from Microsoft 365 build v2211, it doesn't work. When a user reverts to a previous version (such as 2209), it works just fine.

The code failing is fairly basic:

oWord = New Word.Application  
  
 oDOC = oWord.Documents.Open(WordFilePath, objMissing, True, False, objMissing, objMissing, objMissing, objMissing, objMissing, objMissing, objMissing, objMissing, objMissing, objMissing, objMissing, objMissing)  

The code fails at oWords.Documents.Open, saying that it is a null object. This only happens with Word version 2211 when attempting to access template files (.dotx). (the "objMissing" in the Documents.Open are optional parameters, so we don't think this is contributing).

It seems like this new version of Word is incompatible with with the Word Assembly in some way, or there is a breaking change we are not aware of.

Can anyone provide any insights into this behavior change? Has anyone else encountered an issue like this recently?

Answer 1

Try to use this code:

Imports Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word  
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices  
  
'public declaration'  
Public oWord As Word.Application = Nothing  
  
'in your class '  
Sub your_procedure()  
Try  
   oWord = WDExist()  
Catch  
  msgbox("You do not have MS Word installed")  
  Exit sub  
End Try  
  
Dim WordFilePath$ = "c:\your.docx"  
Dim WordDok As Word.Document = oWord.Documents.Open(WordFilePath, ,True)  
'... do somenthing with this document'  
end sub  
  
    Public Function WDExist() As Object  
        Try  
            oWord = CType(Marshal.GetActiveObject("Word.Application"), Word.Application)  
        Catch ex As Exception  
            If oWord Is Nothing Then oWord = GetObject(, "Word.Application")  
        Finally  
            If oWord Is Nothing Then oWord = CType(CreateObject("Word.Application"), Word.Application) 'not visible yet'  
        End Try  
        Return oWord   
    End Function  

And Happy New Year.